New Grower Single pot feeding ?

[organic]

Hi, I need some advice as I am a little confused here with what to do.

I only have a single plant on the go and I have never grown in such a large pot before 20ltr / 5 gallon.

I know my pot will take 6 liters of water with some run off and about 7 days to dry out before needing watering again. So looking at only watering once a week in less it shows signs of needing more water once the plant is much bigger.

The bottle says 2-4mm per liter, so using 4mm as the top end / by 4 is 1 mm per liter but this works out at 6mm per watering for a single plant and this is just starting at a quarter of the recommended does per liter. If I where to use the top end does it would work out at 24mm for a single plant.

I don't know if this is way over the top or is based on the volume of soil being used.

Or should I divide the water total by 3 giving me 2 liters so 2mm per 6 liters and then work up from here so the top does would only reach 8mm per 6 liters

Confused... Yes I am

I cannot find much info for feeding per plant it is all per liter. I am still a few weeks from even thinking about feeding but I am trying to get my head around this and get some type of schedule in place.

Plant magic grow 5.3.3
plant magic bloom 3.5.4

 

[TaNg]

Now I'm confused too lol..... How old/big is the plant? If she is reaching maturity half strength nutrients will be enough no matter how much water you give her...be careful you don't over water bro. My method is to just feed enough water for that day and I use big pots too.

 

[organic]

8 days old today. Like I said - I am a few weeks from even thinking about feeding but trying to get some understanding of where to start in terms of amount of feed to use.

I've used two soils inner/outer. I messed up my first seeds germination so was set back by a week with soil in the pot and I pre watered the inner soil (4ltr pot size) lightly before first germination as the otter soil was damp. But having to start again had lead to the outer soil drying right out to the point I could push my finger right in and it was dry. (seen no point watering it for first few days as there be no roots there)

Anyway I gambled Friday (day 5) and gave the whole pot a water - 6 liters in total to cause a slight run off, just to get the pot and soil all to the same wetness and no dry pockets. The plant loved it thankfully and not a single leaf has drooped in three days, in fact they have all been stood to attention ever since and she has been getting about 13 hours direct sunlight a day since Saturday then back inside at night under a 150w cfl 18/6 total now from last night. the 5 blade leafs are already starting to show.

So now I can water once a week, in less it asks for more but any extra will be plain water.

I just don't know at what strength to start the feed when I get round to it. should I stick to the recommended 1/4 strength does per liter and see what happens or ???

 

[TaNg]

Yes bro 1/4 strength from week 2 if you have light soil (meant very little fertiliser). Try watering less bro you will get better results......here is an illustration of how little I water my plants...there day 5 here...

 

[organic]

Day 8 here, Ignore the yellow tip TaNg, A drop of water from the propagator caused this. I just left it rather then cut the plant. Watering is not an issue, just how much feed to start them off on when I get around to it. Think I will just have to go with the quarter strength and see what happens just 6mm for a plant seemed a little to much so thought I would ask see what others think.

Then I guess I am feeding the soil not the plant so 6mm for 20ltrs of soil is not to much for a whole week.

Still confused Woops

 

[az2000]

Think I will just have to go with the quarter strength and see what happens just 6mm for a plant seemed a little to much so thought I would ask see what others think.

Then I guess I am feeding the soil not the plant so 6mm for 20ltrs of soil is not to much for a whole week. Still confused

I'm on my 4th auto grow and fully understand what you're trying to resolve. The dilution rate is one thing. You could dilute it to 1/4 (1mm/liter) and flush the plant with 10 liters and that wouldn't be the same as feeding 10mm in 1 liter. The volume fed is another thing. It's just a matter of how far the diluted nutrients will spread and sit, waiting for consumption (or, flushed out as more diluted nutrients displace diluted nutrients.).

It's difficult to strike a balance between wet/dry cycles and delivering nutrients to the entire pot, encouraging roots to travel further. Based on how your plant looks, I'd do full container waterings with a bit of runoff. If the soil doesn't dry quickly enough, I might alternate between full and watering around the core of the plant until the roots develop and start drying the soil more quickly.

 

[organic]

I emailed plant magic to see what they recommend, whether I get a reply though I have to wait and see.

Never faced this issue before when indoors. They where always in a lot smaller pots and watered more regularly. And I see little and often watering in large pots could possibly have a bad effect, if only the top half ever gets wet it could lead to dry areas. I now know that once a week with 6 liters of water the whole pot and soil will be saturated and as the root ball grows the run should become more.

Anyone else have anything to offer?